No on will accuse Comptroller Peter Franchot of keeping too quiet for the sake of being a team player. Oddly for someone in charge of promoting the State's fiscal health, Franchot denounced the special session to balance the budget as premature. Unlike past comptrollers, Franchot even refused to allow his staff to participate in budget discussions during the special session.
Franchot often mentions his long experience as a member of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Delegates. I doubt if any other long-term member of that Committee learned that the best way to influence the State's budget is not to participate in drafting it. One wonders if his unwillingness to participate in work was the source of his well-known reputation as a "show horse" rather than a workhorse.
Franchot's unwillingness to participate in the special session has not stopped him from denouncing the outcome:
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), a vocal critic of the special session, said the tax package is "regressive" and "may damage the Maryland economy, which is in a volatile and soft position right now."This statement probably makes Franchot the first comptroller in Maryland history to talk down the State's economy. However, the real kicker is that Franchot admitted immediately that he has no real idea about the impact of the budget. As it turns out, his office hasn't analyzed it yet:
Franchot, the state's chief tax collector, said his office is reviewing the laws and will soon release a fiscal analysis as it prepares to implement the new tax measures Jan. 1. He said it is too soon to know the full impact.
"We're still searching for the black box," Franchot said, likening the process to "when a plane crashes and you go to find the black box to get the data."
